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Knockout of the MSTN gene is linked to the enlarged tongue, and it causes suckling difficulty in animals. The suckling difficulty has a severe effect on animal mortality. Thus, special care was required to ensure their survivability. Here, it is critical to promptly ascertain the genotype of all pigs after birth. The main objective of the present study was to develop the restriction enzyme-mediated PCR-RFLP assay for MSTN mutant pig genotyping. To accomplish this, conserved oligonucleotide primer and restriction site were deduced according to the mutated sequence of the MSTN mutant pigs. PCR amplification yielded a 176 bp band for all homozygous MSTN mutant (MSTN–/–), heterozygous MSTN mutant (MSTN+/–) and wild-type (WT) pigs. However, MSTN+/– samples produced two fragments with 176 and 87 bp, and WT samples produced one fragment with 87 bp after being digested by BstNI. MSTN–/– samples were not digested by BstNI and yielded a 176 bp band. Thus, we were able to determine the genotype of all pigs using BstNI restriction enzyme-mediated PCR-RFLP method. Overall, the present study reported a simple and fast PCR-RFLP genotyping method for MSTN mutant pig breeding. The present study may contribute to the establishment of commercial breeding systems and the production of double muscle pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panax ginseng, a functional food, has been widely used as an edible nourishment and medicinal supplement. Ginsenoside Rb1 is a major bioactive ingredient of ginseng, which shows very specific anti‐apoptosis and anti‐oxidant activities. Methylglyoxal (MGO) is one of intermediate products of glucose metabolism, which is absorbed easily from high sugar foods or carbonated beverages. It may involve in a variety of detrimental processes in vivo. However, it has not been fully explored the effects of ginsenoside Rb1 on MGO‐induced oocytes damage. This study found that MGO‐induced DNA damage and mitochondrial dysfunction result in the failure of porcine oocytes maturation and low in vitro development capacity of parthenogenetic activation (PA) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos. Conversely, Rb1 supplementation recovered the rate of maturation, and improved in vitro development capacity of PA and IVF embryos. Rb1 also provided porcine oocytes a lower level of reactive oxygen species production, higher level of ATP content and mitochondrial membrane potential, and stimulated pluripotency gene expression in blastocysts. The findings of this study reveal ginsenoside Rb1 protects porcine oocyte from the cytotoxicity effects of methylglyoxal and provides novel perspectives for the protection of reproduction system by functional food of ginseng. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies exist on homozygous myostatin gene mutant (MSTN−/−) pigs, especially on their reproductive ability. We have previously shown that semen quality of homozygous MSTN−/− boars is comparable to that of wild type (WT). However, no data exist on the reproductive ability of heterozygous MSTN gene mutant (MSTN+/−) sows. The present study highlights showed that the heterozygous MSTN+/− sows have delayed pubertal age than WT sows (255.80 ± 6.79 versus 191.10 ± 3.42, respectively). The number of services per pregnancy of heterozygous MSTN+/− sows is significantly higher than that of WT sows (3.33 ± 0.43 versus 1.60 ± 0.25, respectively). Moreover, although heterozygous MSTN+/− sows have natural reproduction ability, their litter size was significantly lower than that of WT sows (7.75 ± 0.44 versus 14.25 ± 0.60, respectively). Offsprings generated from heterozygous MSTN+/− sow and homozygous MSTN−/− boar were genotyped with the PCR and sequencing method to detect myostatin mutation and to identify whether the piglets are homozygous MSTN−/− or heterozygous MSTN+/−. The proportion of homozygous MSTN−/− piglets was significantly lower than that of heterozygous MSTN+/− piglets (2.50 ± 0.35 versus 5.25 ± 0.60, respectively). Furthermore, none of the sows presented dystocia, and the phenotype of heterozygous MSTN+/− piglets was normal. However, 10% homozygous MSTN−/− piglets died of dyspnoea within 2 hr after birth, 60% of homozygous MSTN−/− piglets showed large tongues, and 50% had umbilical hernias. In summary, this study for the first time reports the reproduction traits of heterozygous MSTN+/− sows crossbred with homozygous MSTN−/− boars. This study will pave the way in a new direction for the breeding and development of super lean meat varieties in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]